George Takei has vowed never to speak to former Star Trek co-star William Shatner again as he tries to end their long-running feud.
During an appearance on Friday’s The Graham Norton, the 85-year-old actor told the host “this is the very last time I’ll talk about him” noting that questions about their fall are “tiring”.
The interview also saw George call William, 91, a ‘cantankerous old man’, recounting how William used their row as publicity.
Above: George Takei has vowed never to speak to former Star Trek co-star William Shatner again as he tries to end their long-running feud
While discussing his musical allegiance, which is based on his childhood experience and family background, George, 59, was asked by Graham, about his feud with William.
Clearly tired of the narrative, he said: “You are the last chat host to be allowed to ask this question because it has become so tedious to talk about it.”
“When Bill has a book to sell, he needs publicity and accuses us of using it. My subject is more substantial and important.
Fact: During an appearance on Friday’s The Graham Norton, the 85-year-old actor told the host ‘this is the very last time I’ll talk about him’ noting that questions about their fall is “tiring”.
George then added a final jibe before attempting to end the ongoing tension once and for all.
He added: “He is a cantankerous old man and I will speak of him no more. I swear this is the very last time I’ll talk about him.
And while George apparently wanted to end their feud on Friday, days before he couldn’t help but hit William as he called him “a cantankerous old man” again in a new interview.
Time to end the feud: Clearly fed up with the narrative, he said: ‘You are the last chat host to be allowed to ask this question because it has become so tedious to talk about it
What a line-up: George was joined on the show by Kristin Scott Thomas, Claudia Winkleman, Jamie Oliver, Graham Norton and First Aid Kit (LR)
The TV personality told The Guardian on Monday that he doesn’t want to continue committing to Shatner after the Captain Kirk actor said his ex-Star Trek co-stars slammed him in an interview for publicity in a barbed interview earlier this month.
“I know he came to London to promote his book and said I wanted publicity using his name,” said Takei, who played Lt. Hikaru Sulu on Star Trek. “So I decided I didn’t need his name to advertise.”
Takei, who reprized the role of Sulu for several movies and shows in the Star Trek franchise, told the outlet he had “a much more substantial subject matter” he had been seeking publicity for.
Feud: Days before, he couldn’t help but hit William as he called him ‘a cantankerous old man’ again in a new interview. (Takei took pictures last month and Shatner photographed R in July)
“I’m not going to reference Bill at all in this interview…even though I just did.” He’s just a cantankerous old man and I’ll leave him to his own devices. I won’t play his game.
When asked if Shatner was “cantankerous” in his youth, Takei replied that Shatner “was involved”, “enjoyed being the center of attention” and “wanted everyone to bow down to him”. .
Shatner, earlier this month, made headlines when he told The Times that he felt his former costars on the 1960s sci-fi series had pushed him to make headlines for themselves.
Unhappy: The actor who played famed Captain James T Kirk on the show as well as seven films, says he now realizes they’re ‘doing it for the publicity’ (pictured from the 1991 film with George)
Details: Shatner said, “Sixty years after an incident, they are still on this path. Don’t you think that’s a little weird? It’s like a disease
“Sixty years after an incident, they are still on this path. Don’t you think that’s a little weird? It’s like a disease,” said Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk on the hit series as well as in seven films. “I started to understand that they were doing it for publicity.”
Even when Shatner recently went to space courtesy of billionaire Jeff Bezos, Takei said he was sent as a “guinea pig” to assess the impact of space on an “unfit” specimen.
‘George [Takei] never stopped blackening my name,” he said. “These people are bitter and embittered. I lost patience with them. Why give credit to people consumed by envy and hatred?
In his memoir Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, Shatner said he was upset when late co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura, accused him of being “cold and arrogant “.
He wrote: “I was horrified to learn this, ashamed that I hadn’t realized it.”
Shatner was also close friends with Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, but their relationship became strained before his death in 2015 – for reasons unknown to the Kirk actor.
Friction: Even when the actor went to space thanks to billionaire Elon Musk, his former teammate George Takei said he was sent as a “guinea pig” to assess the impact of space on an “unfit” specimen (George pictured earlier this year)
Sad: In his memoir Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder, the actor writes that he was broken when the late costar Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Ulhura, accused him of being “cold and arrogant” (pictured together on the show)
According to Giant Geek Robot, the friction between the two began when William made a Star Trek documentary in 2011 and interviewed many actors who have been in the franchise, but did not include Nimoy.
It comes after William said said seeing Earth from space aboard Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin rocket was a deeply painful experience, but one that inspired him to cherish the beauty of our planet.
In an excerpt from his memoir, he writes that he was struck by one of the “strongest feelings of grief” he had ever felt.
Old friends: William was also close friends with Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock, but their relationship became strained before his death in 2015 – for reasons unknown to the Kirk actor
Going on to say that instead of being filled with awe, as he expected, the sight of the warm blue glow of Earth surrounded by the cold blackness of space made him feel like he was at “a burial”.
The clip was posted by Variety reporter Marianne Williamson and offered deeper insight into Shatner’s reaction to his spaceflight with Blue Origin than he previously revealed.
The revelations come a year after Shatner was visibly emotional immediately after stepping out of the Blue Origin pod in October 2021, when he broke down in tears telling Bezos, “Everyone in the world needs to do this.”
William wrote that he never realized how precious life on Earth was until he left it behind.
“I discovered that beauty isn’t there, it’s here, with all of us,” he said. “Leaving this behind made my connection to our little planet even deeper,” he wrote in his memoir.
He said that seeing the Earth so fragile filled him with grief to think of how casually mankind was in the face of its destruction.
Rocket man: It comes after William said seeing Earth from space aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket was a deeply painful experience, but one that inspired him to cherish the beauty of our planet
